Modeling a network data center architecture, and applications thereof

Abstract

In an embodiment, a method automatically determines a networked data center architecture. In the method, a database describing capabilities of a data center provider is assembled. The database describes capabilities of a plurality of data centers of the data center provider. A specification of requirements for the networked data center architecture is received. The specification describes data processing and connectivity requirements of a customer of a data center provider. The database is searched to determine a solution including a plurality of connections and data center that satisfy the specification. Based on the searching, the solution is output as a recommendation to provide the networked data center architecture. In another embodiment, options for a networked data center architecture are visualized. In yet another embodiment, API calls are made to provision the networked data center architecture.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for automatically determining a networked data center architecture, comprising:
 assembling a database describing capabilities of a data center provider, the database describing capabilities of a plurality of data centers of the data center provider, the capabilities comprising availability of physical computer server space and network connectivity service for customers of the data center provider; 
 receiving a specification of requirements for the networked data center architecture, the specification describing a customer's desired physical computing server space and the customer's desired networked connectivity; 
 searching the database to determine a solution including a plurality of connections and a data center that satisfies the specification; and 
 based on the searching, outputting the solution as a recommendation to provide the networked data center architecture. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the requirements include a compliance with at least one of a data privacy standard, an ESG standard, or a cybersecurity standard. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the requirements include locations for each data center sought in the networked data center architecture. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the requirements include cloud connections sought in the networked data center architecture. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the requirements include a specification of at least one application supported by the networked data center architecture. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the requirements include a specification of where a server providing the at least one application is hosted. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the requirements include a specification of vendors utilized to build or support the networked data center architecture. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the searching the database comprises determining a plurality of solutions, each of the plurality of solutions including the plurality of connections and the data center that satisfy the specification. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 for each of the plurality of solutions, determining a score for a respective solution based on a preference of the customer. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 sorting the plurality of solutions based on the determined score. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 receiving a selection of the recommendation; and 
 in response to the selection, calling at least one API to provision the plurality of connections through an SDN orchestration and control framework. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 retrieving data center data comprising data specifying the plurality of data centers, how the data centers are interconnected, network characteristics of the interconnections, and availability of space at the interconnections; 
 retrieving publicly available data describing geographic information relevant to a requirement for the networked data center architecture; and 
 overlaying the data center data and the publicly available data on a map to visualize options for selecting the networked data center architecture. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , wherein the data specifying the plurality of data centers includes locations of each data center of the plurality of data centers. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the data specifying the plurality of data centers specifies layer 2 connections between the plurality of data centers. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the data specifying the plurality of data centers specifies layer 3 routing between the data centers. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the data specifying the plurality of data centers specifies latency between the data centers. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the publicly available data specifies public infrastructure. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 13 , further comprising: on the map, zooming into a representation of a data center from the plurality of data centers. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 18 , wherein the representation of the data center is a three dimensional model of the data center.